The Milwaukee-Chicago urban corridor has a diverse offering of food markets. This summer, I stopped in at the Seven Mile Flea Market in search of fresh fruits and vegetables. Ever since I can remember, I have been curious about two things: language and food. I...
When Barb Fisher began interpreting for Marshallese-speaking people in 2011, she would never have imagined her whole family would soon be ushered into the same line of work. The Fisher family first became acquainted with the Marshallese language when they moved to the Republic of the...
Experienced court professionals and many ordinary common citizens alike in both the United States of America and the United Kingdom are familiar with the centuries-long doctrine of “Habeas Corpus.” However, ever since the inception of the habeas corpus doctrine, we have never had a complementary...
Does anyone remember that commercial for a chocolate-covered coconut candy bar that could be bought with or without almonds? So, if you “felt like a nut” (if you felt like eating a nut, that is), you could buy the one with almonds, and if you...
The following article by Athena was published a while back. The NAJIT Observer team would like to offer it for your reading pleasure once more. Enjoy! Have you ever taken a dash of one language with a sprinkle of another, mixed them together and simmered to taste?...
Two questions: 1) Is technology going to replace us? (Ironically, the “age-old” one.) 2) Does language really evolve so fast? I want to bring perhaps a different perspective, which others may have evoked in other places. As to technology, it is possible that AI becomes powerful...
I first heard about the University of Arizona’s Court Interpreter Training Institute (CITI) program at NAJIT’s 35th Annual Conference in Las Vegas in 2012. Some colleagues were talking about it while we had lunch. They shared information and spoke highly of the program, so I...
During the first pandemic winter, I took on one of the hardest teaching assignments I’ve ever experienced: I tutored the son of a dear friend of mine with his fifth-grade homework. He was struggling a lot, and there were concerns that he might not be...
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new” —Socrates Jon Leeth was the Special Assistant to the Assistant Director in Charge of Court Reporting and Interpreting Services, also referred to as Chief of the...
I was so comfortable, but man was I bored. I had the privilege of being a Spanish teacher for two and a half decades, which brought with it tremendous success, along with some cool perks. I had taught in the International Baccalaureate program for twenty...